(Daphne's POV)

Daphne stared at herself in the mirror, unable to believe what she was seeing. The dress she was wearing was much tighter than the ones she normally wore. It was a lacy black dress that hugged her curves and fell to her mid-thigh. And the straps that went over her shoulders left plenty of bare skin showing. The red one she'd tried on just moments before was the tiniest bit roomier (which wasn't saying much at all), and she couldn't help blushing when she stepped into the living room, wearing such a revealing outfit. But the look on Niles' face when he saw her eased her mind a bit.

His expression was vastly different now than it had been earlier. When he'd arrived that afternoon, he looked completely relived to find her at home.

"Daphne, I need your help!" he'd said the moment she'd opened the door.

She smiled warmly and escorted him inside. "Of course, Dr. Crane. I'll do anything for you. What's wrong?"

He handed her the grey dress bag, causing her eyebrows to rise. Inside were two stunning dresses, one in red and one in black. She couldn't imagine what he was doing with them.

"What are these?"

"Well, I bought these for Maris and I can't decide which one I should give her. Perhaps you could model them for me so that I can make an unbiased decision?"

"I'd be glad to, but Mrs. Crane and I are hardly the same size. I-."

He unzipped the bag revealing two stunning dresses; the kind a lady might wear to a cocktail party or a night club. They definitely weren't Mrs. Crane's style (even though she'd never met the woman) and the way Frasier and Martin had described Niles' wife had her confined that she wouldn't be happy at all with her husband's gift. But she'd never say as much to Niles. No matter how uncomfortable she felt when it came to the subject of his wife, she would never want to hurt his feelings. And she was only too happy to help him out, even if it meant modeling such revealing dresses.

Now she tried to hide her slight unease, as she slowly walked out of her room and stepped onto the edge of the hardwood floor. Niles looked up in surprise when he saw her and she returned his smile, turning around in a circle to model the dress. "This one is very nice, don't you think?" She tried to hide her ridiculous jealously that Mrs. Crane was getting such a wonderful Christmas gift.

Niles opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by Frasier. His brother was, once again, infuriating, always accusing Niles of flirting with her. It was complete and utter nonsense! Niles never flirted with her, nor had he expressed the slightest sign that he found her attractive, nor did she expect him to. Not only was he married, he was her friend. And although she'd often dreamt of more (a dream that was becoming more and more common) she kept her feelings to herself.

And so she decided to put her mind on the matter at hand. "Would you like for me to put the little red one on again?"

The poor man nearly choked on his drink and she rushed to make sure that he was all right. But as usual, Frasier intervened, ridiculing him once more. "Dear God, Niles what has gotten into you?" He snapped.

Daphne watched the scenario, completely appalled. How dare his brother accuse him of choking on purpose? She was about to say something but then thought better of it. But the bickering between the brothers commenced.

"Dr. Crane?" She interrupted. "About the dresses?"

"Oh, right…" He said absently. "That one is fine. Thank you, Daphne."

"Very well. I was glad to help you out." She said smiling as she turned to go back to her room.

Moments later, relieved to be dressed in her normal clothes, she carefully hung the dresses back on the hangers and zipped up the dress bag. And then she returned to the living room.

"Boy am I glad to be out of that black one. I had to take off me undies just to get the zipper up!"

The glass of wine fell from his hand and shattered on the edge of the table, spilling the contents everywhere.

Daphne gasped and ran into the kitchen to grab a dustpan, broom and towel and then ran to Niles' side hurrying to sweep up the pieces of broken glass. But at that moment she noticed that Niles was trying to help her. He was always such a gentleman.

"Oh now, Dr. Crane please be careful! That glass is-."

He yelped in pain, startling her so badly that she dropped her dustpan. When she looked up, she saw him staring at her in horror and then down at his hand which was bleeding steadily. But it was the look of queasiness and inebriation on his face that stunned her.

"Dr. Crane!"

She grabbed his arm and pulled eased him to his feet. "Come with me into the kitchen."

In a daze he followed her, ignoring his brother's shouting. In the kitchen she turned on the water and gently took his hand, letting the cool water clean the wound. She couldn't help noticing how ill he looked as he watched the stream of blood mix with the water and go down the drain.

And when she was certain the wound was clean, she brought him back to the counter, motioning for him to sit. He did as she asked, wincing in pain as he dutifully held out his hand.

"Don't worry, now… it'll be all right." She said quietly. "I promise it won't hurt for very long."

With as much care as possible, she checked his hand thoroughly, greatly relieved. "I don't see any remnants of glass, so I think you'll be all right. Stay here while I get the first aid cream."

He said nothing but nodded like a little boy and she couldn't resist touching his soft cheek. "I'll be right back."

She hurried across the kitchen, her fingers trembling with the memory of how soft his cheek was. And it made it all the more difficult to find the first aid kit. When she finally did, it took her longer than normal to open the clasp and grab the tube of cream. But then she heard him wince in pain once more, bringing her back to him in no time.

Within seconds, she was gently rubbing the first aid cream into his hand, trying not to think about how it made her feel.

"Daphne? Are you all right?"

"I… forgot something."

Once again she hurried to the first aid kit and grabbed a piece of gauze and some first aid tape. She turned to find him smiling at her and she felt a rush of nervousness. But that was ridiculous. There was nothing to be nervous about.

As gently as possible she placed the gauze into his palm and carefully wrapped the tape around it. While she was doing so, she couldn't help but notice how strong his hands were, and how soft. It was hard to let go of him, but Frasier solved that problem quickly.

"Niles, what is going on in here? You idiot, you spilled wine all over my carpet! And there's glass everywhere!"

"Come on, Dr. Crane." Daphne said, paying no attention to her insensitive boss. Carefully she helped him off the stool and guided him into the living room. "Why don't you lie down in my room for a while? I'll bring you some tea, all right? It'll just take a few minutes."

"Thank you, Daphne. You're an angel."

On her way to brew the pot of tea, she couldn't ignore the feeling of warmth in her heart. Perhaps she should make a batch of her Grammy Moon's secret stomach remedy. It would surely ease his queasiness. Or maybe she should make some for herself. She was definitely coming down with something. She could have sworn that she heard him call her an angel.

But that was impossible. Dr. Crane would never say such a thing about her. She had definitely been reading too many romance novels.